Virtually all types of commercial and private aircraft include external lights, such as taxiing lights and landing lights, to ensure suitable visibility of the aircraft in a wide range of natural lighting conditions. Requirements dictating the number and placement of such lights, among other things, are typically embodied in regulations relating to airworthiness standards, such as Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 23. External aircraft lights typically utilize incandescent filament technology. Due to large inrush currents and exposure to high degrees of vibration, incandescent filament lamps are particularly susceptible to failure in an aircraft environment, and the operational life of an incandescent filament lamp on an aircraft may be relatively short when compared to the operational lives of similar lamps used in less harsh environments. This relatively short operational life may entail significant maintenance costs at the very least, and, in the event of lamp failure during aircraft operation, may jeopardize aircraft and passenger safety.